Browns-Eagles: Analysis and Outlook

David Carducci

10/24/2004

<BR>David Carducci looks at what the loss to the Eagles says about the Browns chances moving forward. The Browns pushed a tough team, and displayed an exciting brand of football on Sunday, but now face four weeks of playing teams who are combined 20-4. How can they come out of the gauntlet with their play-off hopes intact?<BR><BR>

CLEVELAND - Is there such a thing as a moral victory in the National
Football League?

Take a poll in the Cleveland Browns locker room late Sunday afternoon and
it's likely you'd find a different answer with every locker you visit.

The
Browns nearly pulled off a stunner, sending the unbeaten Philadelphia Eagles
to overtime before losing 34-31 on a 50-yard David Akers field goal that
just squeaked over the cross bar.

To some players, giving the Eagles their toughest test of the season was
a reason to head into the bye week feeling good about their hopes for the
second half. To others, it was just another loss in a disappointing 3-4
start.

As a friend tried to comfort the Browns defensive backs in one corner of
the locker room, safety Michael Jameson looked up with pain in his face and
said, "yeah, we played better. But we have to win. Winning is all that
matters in this business."

It was a realist view coming from a frustrated player, but it was not
completely accurate.

In an NFL built around television ratings and jersey sales, it's actually
far worse for a team to be boring than to lose.

And for the first time in a while, the Browns were anything but boring
during a loss. That's a big step for a team whose losses have been so ugly
this season that the games didn't even provide good background noise during
a Sunday-afternoon nap on the couch.

It's also a reason for fans to stay interested and optimistic as the
Browns prepare for what they hope will be a second-half playoff run.

Unfortunately, the Browns can't afford to settle for just playing a
competitive and entertaining brand of football. If they really want to play
in the postseason, at some point they have to do more than just put up a
good fight in games against top-level opponents like the Eagles.

Come away with four more moral victories in those games against teams in
the Eagles caliber and the Browns, assuming they beat the lowly Cincinnati Bengals, will own a 4-8 record in mid-December. At that point, they would
already be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs or need to run the
table in the final four games (including road trips to Buffalo, Miami and
Houston) just to keep any slim postseason hope alive.

Realistically, the Browns are going to need to pull off one major upset,
and preferably two, in the next five weeks if they want to make the
playoffs.

Sunday's moral victory at the very least should keep hope alive that an
upset or two could be in the making.

Ask head coach Butch Davis or quarterback Jeff Garcia, and they will tell
you that Sunday offered proof that the Browns once-struggling offense is
starting to turn a corner.

Garcia still makes more mistakes than big plays in the vertical passing
game, but when he avoids forcing the ball into coverage deep downfield and
focuses on what he does best, rolling out and dinking and dunking the ball
down the field, he can be effective.

Even the receiving corps looks promising. Dennis Northcutt is finally
being used as more than just a glorified possession receiver, and in two
weeks he will be joined by a healthy Andre Davis and a talented playmaker in
newcomer Antonio Bryant, who by then will have a better understanding of the
Browns playbook.

Unfortunately, Sunday also uncovered several concerns that need to be
addressed if the Browns are serious about a playoff run.

Outside of always dependable place kicker Phil Dawson, very little is
special about the Browns special teams. Rookie punter Derrick Frost had an
ugly game Sunday, averaging just 39.6 yards per boot, including a dreadful
30-yarder to the Philadelphia 22-yard line in overtime after the Browns
decided to try to pin the Eagles deep instead of going for a fourth-and-one
near midfield.

Problems in the kick-return game are also becoming the norm. After
switching from Dee Brown to Richard Alston, then back to Brown in the first
month, the Browns finally released Brown prior to Sunday's game. That
decision forced Andre King to pull a fill-in double duty as both a kick
returner and starting receiver with Davis injured.

The Browns defensive scheme is also becoming a major question mark. Their
reliance on cover-two may be effective against teams that are weak at the
quarterback position, but give a Donovan McNabb time to set up and throw in
the pocket, as the Browns did Sunday, and he will put up big numbers.

At some point, the Browns are going to have to take more chances and not
just hope that the front four will eventually generate some natural
pressure. Otherwise, quarterbacks like Ben Roethlisberger, Chad Pennington
and Tom Brady are going to have a field day in the coming weeks.